MySpace
myspace music my music  featured playlists  top artists  music videos  karaoke  shows  forums 


blogs.myspace.com/yesvirginiaband
MySpace.com | rss | sign in
Yes Virginia



Last Updated: 12/21/2009

Send Message
Instant Message
Email to a Friend
Subscribe

Status: Single
City: WILMINGTON
State: Delaware
Country: US
Signup Date: 6/22/2006
Saturday, December 20, 2008 

Paul Janocha: bass, guitars, keyboards
Mario Padovani: vocals
Frank Ginocchio: drums
David Ragsdale: violin

Produced by Paul Janocha
Recorded & mixed by Paul Janocha at Ken-Del Studios
Released 2008

"With their rhythm, vocals, and power riffing, the Yes Virginia CDs are
always impressive in their ability to convey the spirit of 70's anthem
rock." - Christmasreviews.com

OK, let me start off by saying I'm a big fan of the band Kansas. I've seem perform live dozens of times over the years. After a show here in Wilmington back in the 90's, I had the opportunity to meet violinist David Ragsdale. Turns out he has a home studio and does long distance collaboration with bands all over the country. He's even worked with such artists as The Smashing Pumpkins, Queensryche and Bonham. As a producer/engineer, I've used him on numerous projects over the past several years (including "My Beautiful Bird" by Mario Padovani). I kept telling myself, one of these days, I'm going to get him on one of my tracks. Well, that day has finally arrived.

The basic arrangement for this tune evolved from an acoustic version of this song that Mario and I came up with a couple of years ago. We had to do an unplugged performance on WSTW's "Hometown Heroes" radio show, and most of the stuff we've done together as Yes Virginia in the studio was so produced that it was nearly impossible to strip it down to a couple of acoustics and keep it interesting and new. We decided to take "Greensleeves" from our 1999 disc, speed it up and add vocals.

So here we are, a few years later, and I'm hearing this song with a full band. We somehow managed to hold onto a drummer for longer than one Christmas season, Frank was back with us (looks like he's eluded that Spinal Tap like curse so far!) We recorded his drum tracks at Ken-Del, and I recorded all the guitars, bass and keys at home.

Mario had put some tasty violins our 1999 version, but for this up tempo one, we'd need a rippin' violin solo. Hmmm, I wonder who I should get. I sent a rough mix to David in Atlanta and he e-mailed me the violin parts. The original idea was to have a guitar solo after the violin solo, but how do you follow what he laid down?

Mario came in and recorded his vocals. Now anyone who has heard Yes Virginia vocal production would not be one bit suprised to hear twenty tracks of him layered up in four part harmony. I admit, I was completely prepared for that. What I wasn't prepared for was for him to do one vocal track and say "That's enough"! He was right, though, it was enough. No doubling, no harmonies, no layers. Just one voice. The intimacy of the lyric would have been completely lost in a huge vocal production. (Of course there is the obligatory dose of Ronnie James Dio and a dash of Tom Jones in there!)

So here I sit, less than two weeks left in the year, and I reflect back on how crazy 2008 was. $100 a barrel for oil. Trillion dollar government bailouts. And I use 13 tracks on a Yes Virginia tune and Mario uses just one. But at least I finally got to play on a track with Rags.

Have a very Happy Christmas and a Peacefull New Year!

Paul




4:56 AM
 
Print
Previous Post: Lo, How A Rose E’re Blooming! | Back to Blog List | Next Post: The Closing of the Year